'Rane will be asked to break silence over Goa rape'

Panaji, Jan 19 (IANS) Goa Congress working president Francisco Sardinha said Saturday he would ask opposition leader Pratapsing Rane to break his silence over the rape of a minor girl in the state.

"I will ask Rane why is he not talking. I will request him to speak," Sardinha said at a press conference here.

Earlier this week, an unknown man entered a school in Vasco town and lured a seven-year-old girl to a toilet, claiming he is a policeman and raped her. She was later fond in shock in the toilet.

Rane, who is Goa's longest serving chief minister, has been missing in action for the last several months even as his junior colleagues are trying to confront the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government over the illegal mining and law and order issues.

The absence of the senior leader like Rane from the opposition charge has been felt severely by the party, whose inexperienced spokespersons have failed to make a dent as far as attacking the Manohar Parrikar-led government is concerned.

When the BJP-led government completed its 100 days in power in March last year, Rane had said that he would start attacking the government over governance issues.